Challis Wild Horse Gather Wraps Up

CHALLIS, ID – The BLM Challis Field Office wrapped up wild horse gather operations today, October 31, 2012. A total of 267 wild horses were gathered over the course of six days in three different capture locations within the Challis Herd Management Area (HMA), and one outside the HMA. Of the 267gathered, 46 mares were treated with Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP-22) to reduce reproduction rates, and were released back to the HMA this morning. A total of 57 male horses were released back to the HMA as well. There are about 8 – 10 horses at the Challis Wild Horse Facility including three mares with foals that will be released at a later date. One of the horses gathered was humanely euthanized due to severe pre-existing injuries causing a Henneke Body Condition score of 2.

The BLM says the number of horses gathered and released should achieve the Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 185 animals to maintain the overall objective of healthy horses on healthy rangelands.

Currently, there are 163 horses at the Challis Wild Horse Facility being prepared for the adoption program. For the next several days horses will be freeze-marked and vaccinated. “Until this work is completed, it is important that we keep the distractions to a minimum to reduce the potential for additional stress on the horses,” said Kevin Lloyd, Challis Wild Horse and Burro Specialist. “We want the members of the public and potential adopters to see the horses; however, we’ll need to wait until we are finished prepping them.”

An opportunity for the public to view the horses at the Facility will be held on November 4 from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The regular visiting hours will begin November 26 and continue each week day.

“Gather operations went very smoothly this year,” said Lloyd. “I’m very pleased that there were no gather related injuries to any of the horses or people working the horses. We have a nice selection of young horses that will be available for adoption in December.”

The wild horses will be available for viewing and adoption on December 14 - 15 at the Challis Wild Horse Facility. Following this, the remaining horses will be transported to Boise where they will be offered for adoption in mid-January.

For additional information, or to obtain photos from the Challis Wild Horse Gather, please visit www.blm.id.gov.

Public users wishing to download files from the Secure File Transfer Application (SFTA) may access the application here: http://www.blm.gov/sfta_anon. These users are required to provide a valid email address, which must be validated via an email link on first access, to view and download files from SFTA. Please note that SFTA is best viewed using Microsoft Internet Explorer (optimized for 7.0, accessible with Compatibility View Enabled in 8.0 and 9.0) and may not display correctly in other browsers. Once logged into SFTA, the user should use the following path in the file structure to access the video: /pub/ID/pao. There are several files available for download at this site.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.